UAE boots Canada from Dubai base

OTTAWA - The Canadian Forces have been kicked out of a strategic base that supports operations in Afghanistan after a dispute with the United Arab Emirates over Canadian airport landing slots.

The closure of Camp Mirage outside Dubai is expected to affect troops next year when they are scheduled to pull out of Kandahar in July.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the Forces had been asked to leave but would find "other ways to support this mission through other hubs in the region."

Foreign Affairs spokesman Alain Cacchione confirmed the Forces are planning contingencies for the relocation of their military assets presently located at Camp Mirage.

Canada and the UAE have been at loggerheads over granting more flights to UAE's two national carriers, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, to Canada each week.

According to several reports, the UAE was refusing to allow the Canadian Forces to continue using the Dubai base unless Canada gave its airlines more lucrative routes.

Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways are allowed to fly up to three times a week to Canada and both decided to use their allotment to serve Toronto only, Cacchione said.

NDP defence critic Jack Harris said Canada's relationship with the UAE has been in decline and he's not sure the latest news is as simple as a showdown over air rights between Air Canada vs. Emirates Air.

"There seems to be some failure on the part of the Government of Canada to get a better lease arrangement than something that can be destroyed on 30 days notice," he said, adding that it would be a "very expense fix" to move the base.

"Canada fully expects to maintain a positive relationship with this important country and it is in the interests of both countries to do so. That is certainly the Canadian government's intention," she said.